'Weight-loss drug has been life-changing for me'

Nikki Laine has been taking the weight-loss drug Mounjaro for just over three weeks and has described it as "life-changing" after losing 1st st and 2lb (7.6kg).

Mounjaro – also known as Tirzepatide – is an injectable prescription which contributes to weight loss when taken alongside a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Mrs Laine, 51, said: "I feel less sluggish because I'm eating more healthily. Mounjaro allows you to eat - but not overeat."

Local weight management clinic bosses said such drugs could be "a useful tool" but that healthy changes to lifestyles were also needed to keep weight off.

Trials suggest Mounjaro users might lose more than 20% of their body weight after a year on the treatment.

According to NHS guidelines, the drug should be only prescribed for a maximum of two years.

Dr Rebecca Mitchinson, the weight management clinic lead for the Healthcare Group said such drugs could be "a useful tool".

However, she added: "At some point, the medication is going to be stopped and, unless those healthy changes have been put in place, and your relationship with food in terms of the psychological aspects or the exercise that people are doing all the things that people are choosing to eat, then the weight is going to come back on."

The Healthcare Group said more than 500 of its patients were taking weight-loss drugs.

The States of Guernsey's most recent Medical Officer of Health Report said "more must be done to bring more people into the healthy weight range".

The report said it was estimated that 57.4% of people in Guernsey and Alderney in 2023 had a BMI indicating they were overweight or obese.

The report added that Public Health wanted to explore "ways in which more people can benefit from the advantages of new weight-loss drugs, used as part of a holistic care package".

Research suggests people do put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping weight-loss drugs as their normal food cravings returned.

Mrs Laine said her motivation for losing weight was to "run around" with any future grandchildren "rather than sit in a chair from afar".

She said she had tried losing weight by attending slimming groups in the past, as well as fasting and "silly diets".

Mrs Laine said did not think she could have achieved the weight loss without the drug because she had not "got the willpower to do it".

"I always say: 'Let's start the diet again on Monday.' I feel like Monday never comes if we are realistic," she said.

Experts recommend that patients improve their diet and increase the amount of exercise they take while on the treatment.

Mrs Laine said she was determined to lose another five stone (31.8kg).

She said of taking the drug: "Your body is telling you that you are full; you don't need to overeat to feel satisfied."

Mrs Laine said: "It's not a miracle cure, you have to put the work in too.

"I miss exercising. When you get to a certain size, your ankles start to hurt, your back will start to hurt, so you tend to do less exercise and then you tend to stay clear of it all together."

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